In the petroleum industry and particularly in offshore oil and gas production operations it is often required to provide non-retrievable submarine pipelines with sections that can be easily retrieved to the water surface. The retrievable sections generally comprise wear prone components that require regular replacement or abovewater inspection, such as valves and measuring and control equipment.
Various connector systems suitable for connecting such retrievable pipe sections to non-retrievable pipelines in a releasable manner are currently being used.
U.K. patent application No. 2,081,831 discloses a releasable flow line connector provided at one end thereof with a quick-release coupling that includes an assembly of pivotable latching fingers which are actuated to pivot by means of a slidable ring. U.S. Pat. No. 3,554,579 discloses a releasable connector provided with a quick-release coupling similar to the above coupling. This flow line connector is moreover retractable since it consists of two telescoping members. The fluid conduits passing through the connector are intercoupled by means of telescoping conduit sections, wherein the annular space between these sections is sealed off by flexible O-rings. These rings can easily be damaged when sliding the sections relative to each other.
A major disadvantage of both known connectors is that a slight misalignment of the flow line ends that are to be interconnected thereby cannot be compensated and will lead to an unreliable connection.